


Her Raven

by Isimile



Series: Her Raven [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Canonical Character Death, Dís is the brains of that family, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sentinel Nori, Spymaster Nori (Tolkien), because Thorin's an idiot, not Thorin and the boys though, so is Dwalin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24412138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isimile/pseuds/Isimile
Summary: Dís didn't rely on her brother and sons to stay alive on their own. Instead she sent her spymaster along with them and had him report to her.-----This is the finished version of my EAD story from 2018
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins & Nori, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Dwalin/Nori (Tolkien), Dís & Nori (Tolkien)
Series: Her Raven [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763566
Comments: 12
Kudos: 169





	Her Raven

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Her Raven (EAD 2018)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13694925) by [Isimile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isimile/pseuds/Isimile). 



Dwalin had to force himself not to tighten his grip on his axe. Dáin was family, he reminded himself, so he should not attack him, not even when he was arguing to be named regent until either Thorin, Fíli or Kíli woke up, never mind that the healers were confident that they would wake up any moment now and that Balin, as Thorin’s advisor, was more than qualified to take care of everything until then. Balin was arguing just that, with most of the Company standing behind him in support.

“As Lord of the Iron Hills and Thorin’s cousin, I’m the highest ranking dwarf, so I should act as regent,” Dáin argued.

“I think not, considering you have no idea of all that has been happening here, as you refused to aid my brother until he had retaken the mountain,” a female voice cut in. Everyone turned, surprised, to see Princess Dís standing in the tent opening. “I will be taking care of what needs to be done until my brother is ready to be crowned.”

Dáin was momentarily thrown but quickly rallied. “Cousin, I’m surprised to see you so soon. I was given to understand that you had remained behind in the Blue Mountains, so you would not be aware of what all that has happened either.”

“It is true that I did not travel with my brother but instead followed with a host of scribes, accountants and architects to join them when he send word that the mountain was secured, in order to start rebuilding. Which is why I had my spymaster join him and keep me informed,” Dís replied. She smirked when one of the Dáin’s guard froze and his gaze darted around the tent. “I see one of your men knows my spymaster.”

“Your spymaster?” Dáin echoed.

Dwalin wanted to ask the same. One of the Company was their spymaster?

“Nori, son of Ysora,” Dís said.

Dáin looked at Dori and Ori. True, the line of Dúrin had never openly acknowledged them as family though it was well known that they descended from an illegitimate daughter of Náin II but he could easily identify them, not least of all because of the attractive looks of the Ri family. “He is certainly young and inexperienced yet and may have missed something.”

“He has served my family faithfully as spymaster since the Battle of Azanulbizar. What’s more, he is a Sentinel of the Line of Dúrin, second is strength only to my brother. He did not _miss_ anything,” Dís rebuked sharply.

The thief? Dwalin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Nori was the spymaster? Had been the spymaster for decades? In the battle on Ravenhill, he had seen proof that Nori was a Sentinel when the other had attacked Azog in a protective rage to protect Fíli but had not thought it more than a Sentinel’s instinct to protect, especially to protect one of their pride hardly old enough to count as an adult.

“Then where is he now?” Dáin questioned.

“Representing the race of dwarfs, especially the Line of Dúrin, in a quest to destroy the One Ring of power.”

~*~

_Dís,_

_We have left the Shire, with the Hobbit Tharkûn has picked as our burglar. Contrary to what we expected, Tharkûn seems to have actually managed to find a Hobbit willing to accompany us. What’s more, the Hobbit, a Bilbo Baggins, is Thorin’s Guide. Though, knowing your brother, you won’t be surprised to hear that he managed to insult his Guide at once upon meeting him._

_By the way, who thought it a good idea to let Thorin go to the Shire on his own? He managed to get lost twice that he noticed and admitted to._

~*~

Nori watched the army set out, led by Thror to regain Khazad-dûm. It went against his very instincts as a Sentinel, especially one with all five senses like him, to remain behind. Though it was not like he had a choice. Had he been born centuries earlier, he would have been guaranteed a high ranking position in the army. When Thror had been struck by the gold sickness, however, he had changed the law so that anyone wanting to serve, even a Sentinel, had to pay for it. His family hardly had enough not to starve, never mind pay his way into the army. And even if he did have the money, he doubted the officers in charge of the army would take kindly to a bastard with questionable parentage.

He tensed when he felt eyes on him but relaxed when he realized that it was Nolir, the spymaster and his teacher. His knew that Dori didn’t like it (and neither did he, to tell the truth) but in his youth he, like many others, had begun to steal in order to keep them from starving. His senses had quickly made him rather successful and for years no one had got close to catching him. He had to admit that he’d been getting cocky, at least until he’d found the spymaster waiting for him in his hideaway one day.

He’d frozen upon seeing him. Nolir was spoken off with fear and respect by everyone on the wrong side of the law. There were rumours that he might be the spymaster, though no one knew for sure, as the identity of the spymaster was only known to the spouse of the current ruler or of the one next in line to the throne.

Nolir regarded him in turn. “You are younger than I expected,” he’d finally said. “Nori, was it?”

Nori had remained silent, not knowing how to reply yet knowing better than to try and run.

“I believe I can guess why you’re stealing,” Nolir had continued. “You can continue as you are, as long as you aren’t a threat to the Line of Dúrin or are caught by the guards. Or...”

“Or what?”

“Or you can work for me.”

And so Nori had started working for the spymaster. Officially and in the eyes of everyone else, he was just another thief. In truth everything since then had been either on order of the spymaster or was just a carefully spread rumour to establish his reputation.

Once again his senses had come in handy and he’d quickly risen in rank. Nolir had been impressed enough that he’d finally started training him to be the next spymaster.

Sometimes it was hard, knowing that even his brother believed him to be a criminal.

“It’s a choice you have to make,” Nolir had told him seriously when he’d made the offer. “The spymaster has to put the good of the Line of Dúrin before everything else, so we are not supposed to have any attachments. We are not allowed to take a spouse or acknowledge any children we might have. With the rules as they are, even if you were to find your guide, you won’t be allowed to bond with him. You can remain as my assistant, that way the rules are not as strict, but I think you would make a good spymaster.”

“I’ll do it.”

His position was also the reason that he had to stay behind now. Nolir was going with the army, to serve as another line of protection for the king and princes, while Nori as his successor was to remain to guard Princess Dís and her son, the future of the Line of Dúrin.

Watching the army depart, Nori prayed that they would be successful, that they would manage to regain Khazad-dûm. It was no secret that Ered Luin would not be enough to sustain them in the long term. He also hoped that the losses they’d inevitably suffer wouldn’t be too heavy. He especially hoped for the safe return of Nolir and... and Dwalin. Dwalin, the guard he’d encountered a few times now when carrying out his duties. Dwalin, his One and Guide. Dwalin, acting as Prince Thorin’s Guide.

It had been hard on Nori when he had realized just who the guard who almost captured him was. No matter Nolir’s warning, it had still come as a shock how painful it was to know that he could have no future with his One, not when he wasn’t allowed to serve as spymaster and bond with his One, not when accepting his One would mean leaving the prince without a guide. Not when his One, a guard, believed him to be a criminal.

“Let me speak to Prince Thrain when we return from the war,” Nolir had told him when they were preparing for the campaign. “We’re in the unusual situation that the heir is also the one I report to, since both his and Thrór’s wives are dead and Dís is too young. He can perhaps be convinced to allow the spymaster to court their One, to allow them to acknowledge their family. You’d still have to wait for Prince Thorin to find his guide, of course, but at least you’d have hope.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I want you to have a chance at happiness. I want you to be able to have the family I know you wish for. I want to be able to...” Nolir stopped himself.

Nori swallowed. He had a suspicion, had had it for years now, what Nolir couldn’t say. “When you return.”

~*~

_Dís,_

_You will need to stop in Rivendell to sooth some ruffled feathers. Tharkûn arranged for us to stop here against Thorin’s will. The following encounter with Elrond went poorly accordingly._

_I came across some information here that Tharkûn failed to mention or consider. Elrond seems to have some connection to both Isildur and the sons of Feanor, judging from some objects on display. Asking for his help to get a line known for their weakness for gold to regain a dragon hoard including a stone sometimes compared to a Silmaril was spectacularly bad idea on Tharkûn’s part, I’d say._

~*~

Nori instantly dropped what he was doing when he saw the raven he’d been sending back and forth with Nolir appear. He carefully freed the small scrap of parchment to read the message. To his surprise, he found that it was not in Nolir’s handwriting but had been written by one of Nolir’s helpers who had accompanied him.

_‘We failed. Thrór, Frerin and Víli dead. Thráin lost. Thórin leading army back._

_‘Nolir dead. You’re spymaster.’_

For a long, long moment he just stared, unable, unwilling to believe what he was seeing. Dead. So many dead. Half the royal family, gone.

Nolir gone.

He closed his eyes, allowing himself just once to call up the sense memory of him, allowing himself to grieve for...

~*~

Dìs had just got her Fíli to fall asleep and sat down to catch her breath. She really hoped Víli got back before the birth of their next child, if only to have help dealing with two little children. She looked up when she noticed movement.

A young, red-haired dwarrow was standing in her rooms, looking barely old enough to be considered of age. She was about to reach for her knife but the sad look in his eyes stopped her.

He bowed low. “Princess Dís, I am Nori, the spymaster.” He swallowed hard, opened his mouth and closed it without saying a word. Another deep breath. “I am reporting to you, to bring you news from the army.”

Dís frowned. The spymaster? This youngling was the spymaster? And why would he report to her? Didn’t the spymaster still report to...? She froze.

“They failed to reclaim Khazad-dûm. Our army is returning back here, led by your brother Thorin.” Nori paused. “King Thrór has fallen. Prince Frerin has fallen. Prince Thráin is lost, presumed dead.” He briefly glanced at Dís heavily pregnant belly. “Víli has fallen.”

She wanted to yell at him, demand who he thought he was to play such a cruel prank on her. It had to be a prank. The opposite was unthinkable. She’d lost her grandmother when she’d still been small, had lost her mother and a number of friends, cousins, aunts and uncles to the dragon and the harsh conditions during their wandering. Surely the Valar wouldn’t be so cruel as to take more, to take almost all that remained of her family?

Yet the grief and compassion in his eyes told her otherwise.

A wail tore from her throat. She wrapped her arms around her middle, around the child she was carrying, the child which would never know their father.

~*~

She must have lost time in the sudden shock of her grief for her next clear memory was of sitting in front of the fire, a cup of tea beside her and the dwarrow calling himself the spymaster soothing Fíli back to sleep.

“You are good with him.” She was surprised how scratchy her voice sounded. Had she been crying?

“I have a brother just a little older than him,” he explained.

She nodded. “We will have to go to my father’s study.” Which would become hers now, probably. She tried not to think on it too much. “You’ll tell me all you know. We need to prepare for the return of the army.” Or at least what remained of it.

And so they spend the next few days planning, preparing what they knew would be needed. Trying their best to make sense of the duties that had so suddenly been thrust upon them. Dís was grateful for his presence, the way he kept making sure she’d eat, the way he kept using his spirit animal, a raven, to keep Fíli distracted and occupied. She wondered sometimes at the way he seemed to understand her grief, the way he seemed to grieve as well, but couldn’t bring herself to ask. Not yet.

When the survivors of the campaign returned and the whole settlement learned of the losses they’d suffered, many were impressed by how composed the princess reacted, how she welcomed them back and worked to offer what help she could. Yes, most of the royal family might have perished but between Prince (now King) Thorin and Princess Dís, the people had trust in the future of the Line of Dúrin.

Dís looked up briefly towards her home. There was a brief flash of red at one of the windows. Her raven was watching over them.

~*~

_‘Dís,_

_Azog lives. He didn’t perish at the gates of Khazad-dûm after all and is hunting us. Your fool of a brother tried to fight him and almost got himself killed, if it hadn’t been for Bilbo Baggins. Be on your guard for Azog or those working with him._

_We are safe for now with a shapeshifter called Beorn._

_You need to send a messenger to the Shire. Turns out that Master Baggins had no warning about our arrival or quest. Also, he’s the favourite nephew of the current Tháin and responsible for a number of lodgers, all of whom have no idea why and how he left.’_

~*~

Dís paced up and down in her study. She was not surprised that Thorin planned to try and regain Erebor. Something had to happen. Many had to go work in the settlements of men around because Ered Luin could not sustain all these dwarrow. She’d have preferred a less dangerous venture but she had to admit, she also wanted their home back. But that he was taking both her sons along...

“Dís,” Nori greeted, suddenly standing there as he so often did, to bring her reports on what was going on.

“What are the chances the other kingdoms will send aid?” she demanded.

Nori shook his head. “They won’t. They might have sworn fealty to the Line of Dúrin but none of them will send men now, not even Dáin. If the dragon is dead, perhaps, but not against Smaug.”

“So just a handful of dwarrow against a dragon.” She stared out the window. “He’s taking my babies.” She grabbed a paperweight from her desk and threw it at the wall. “My fool of a brother is taking my boys on a quest against dragon. And I have to stay behind and hope and pray that he doesn’t get them killed.” Like Thrór had got Frerin, Thráin and Víli killed, she didn’t say.

When she turned around, she found Nori kneeling in front of her. “I’m joining the quest as well. I swear to you, I will do all I can to bring them back to you alive.”

She blinked back tears. “Thank you. Thank you, my friend.” She reached for his hands. “But please take care yourself as well. I don’t want to lose another little brother.”

~*~

Dís waved off her boys, working hard to keep the fear off her face in public. When they were out of sight, she went to her office to finish the preparation she and Nori had begun.

Thorin was taking what few dwarrow had been willing to go on such a dangerous quest with uncertain end. Hopefully the dragon was already dead or, if he wasn’t, they would be able to kill it. But, knowing her brother, there was little plan for the aftermath. Nori had shown her the contract. Thorin had promised everyone a share of the treasure to be found in Erebor. But how would it be distributed? After all, not all of it would be coins. What about personal treasures, like jewellery, weapons or armour of dwarrow with living family? In the end, she and Nori had signed an additional contract stating that half of Nori’s share would go to the re-establishment of Erebor. When she arrived, she’d make her boys, brother and cousins sign a similar agreement. Anything someone else had legal right to would be first be sorted into that pile, then given to any heirs showing up. To help that, she was taking a host of scribes and accountants with her when she followed them. If they managed to regain Erebor, they would start organizing the re-establishment. If they didn’t, the additional fighters would be welcome on the way back.

She refused to consider that there might be no one to bring back if they failed.

She wasn’t surprised when the orphaned dwarrow lass Nori was preparing as his successor showed up in her office. “I’m accompanying you,” she stated, clearly ready to argue her point.

“Of course.”

~*~

_‘Smaug is dead._

_Thorin’s fallen to gold sickness.’_

~*~

“The dwarfs are about to be overran. Thorin must be warned,” Gandalf said.

“I’ll do it,” Bilbo said at once.

“That’s far too dangerous,” Gandalf protested.

“I can use my ring to go unseen,” Bilbo countered.

“And I will go with him to offer further protection,” Nori offered, showing up beside them.

Gandalf and Bilbo turned to him, surprised. “Nori? What are you doing here?”

“Checking on Bilbo and finding out what the other armies know.” He looked at Bilbo. “I can act as your sentinel to shield you from the worst of the battle.”

Bilbo nodded decisively. “Then let’s go.”

~*~

They were surprisingly quick. Nori was quite stealthy for a dwarrow, Bilbo found, and the chaos of the battle allowed them to traverse the battlefield unnoticed. With Nori acting as his sentinel, he could also more easily tune out all the death around them, instead concentrating on reaching Thorin and the others in time. Yet still it was taking longer than he wanted.

They had finally reached the foot of Ravenhill. “A battle ram would be helpful now,” Nori muttered. “Never mind. Climb on my back. I’m better able at scaling a rock wall than you would be on your own.”

“It’s still gonna take too long.” Still Bilbo followed Nori’s instruction to get on his back.

“Call to him.”

“What?”

“He’s your sentinel. Thorin, I mean. Call to him. He’ll hear you, even without a bond.” Nori started climbing.

Bilbo hesitated a moment, then nodded. He closed his eyes and thought of Thorin, thought of his sentinel. “Thorin! Thorin, please, if you hear me, this is a trap!” He kept talking while Nori climbed as quickly as her could.

When they reached the top, Nori tilted his head to the side, listening. “They’ve split up.” He pointed one way. “Thorin and Dwalin are over there. Go to them, the way’s clear. I’m going after the boys.” What he didn’t add was that he hoped to reach them before the orcs did.

Bilbo had not long started into the direction Nori had pointed when he almost literally ran into Thorin and Dwalin.

Thorin steadied him carefully, staring at him in wonder. “Bilbo,” he breathed.

“Thorin. By the Valar, Thorin. We need to leave. This is...”

“...a trap. I heard you.” Thorin could hardly take his eyes off his hobbit, his _guide_. How, how had he missed this?

How could he have threatened him?

They started when they heard drums. “No. Oh please, no.” They were forced to watch, helpless, as Azog stepped out of the ruins of one of the upper levels of the tower, Fíli in his grip.

“This one dies first,” Azog said in Orcish. “Then the brother. And then you, Oakenshield.” He pulled back his left arm to ram the blade on it in Fíli when there came a furious shriek from above, like a raven’s. Azog’s head came up, just as a raven swooped towards him, claws outstretch. He tried to ward him off but the bird turned out to be intangible.

Nori used the opening created by his raised arm. He threw himself after his spirit animal, burrowing his dagger in Azog’s shoulder, just at the edge of the armour. He grabbed Fíli from his loosened grip and jumped, half-sliding, half-falling down the side of the tower. The Line of Dúrin was not going to end today.

~*~

In the end, Azog stood no chance against the two sentinels. They had managed to kill him, while Legolas and Tauriel had killed Bolg when he tried to take advantage of the fight to kill Fíli and Kíli. The Line of Dúrin had survived, Bilbo was happy to say, though Thorin and the boys had been wounded and were currently unconscious. Luckily for them, wherever Gandalf had been and what he’d been doing, he’d been followed to Erebor by Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel. Elrond had personally looked after them and had assured Bilbo that they’d be fine and that it wouldn’t be long until they awoke.

“Now that this is over with,” Gandalf said when Bilbo slumped in relief, “I wanted to ask where you got that ring of yours.”

“My ring?” Bilbo repeated. His hand slowly rose to the pocket he had it in. Why was Gandalf asking? Did he mean to take his-?

Nori knocked their shoulders together, jerking him from his thoughts. He had barely left Bilbo’s side since the battle, watching over him and protecting him from the desperation and grief that permeated the camps.

Bilbo blinked, suddenly clear headed again. He exchanged a worried look with Nori. They’d kept the casual bond they’d formed during the journey and especially the battle for now, so they’d both felt it when something had tried to manipulate Bilbo’s mind, only for Nori to shield him.

When Nori nodded at him, signalling that he’d strengthened the shields as much as their bond allowed, he carefully reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “I found it in the Misty Mountains when I was separated from the others.” He looked from Gandalf to Elrond, forehead furrowed and worrying his lip. “Something’s wrong with it. It tried to influence me just now to hide it.”

Gandalf stared at the ring for a long, silent moment, then turned to Elrond.

“It could be,” Elrond admitted. “There is just one way to find out for sure.” He turned to Bilbo. “I need you to throw it into the fire.”

Steeling himself against the struggle the ring put up and trying to ignore the way he could feel it batter against Nori’s shields, Bilbo went over to the fireplace and threw it inside.

~*~

Just an hour later, they were in secret meeting with Galadriel, Thranduil and Bard, each of them accompanied by a few trusted guards. Nori’d had to reluctantly agree that, while Thorin was unconscious and the current leadership of the dwarrow during his recovery uncertain, it was better to keep them out of it for now.

“So the one ring has been found,” Thranduil said, staring at Bilbo out of his strange, pale eyes. Bilbo suddenly was grateful that they had decided to keep it hidden in a small bag for now.

“It needs to be destroyed,” Elrond stated. “And the only way to destroy it is where it was forged; the fire of Mount Doom.”

“Right now our forces are weakened. We cannot lead a campaign against Mordor,” Thranduil said.

Bard shook his head. “We _have_ no forces. Our home was destroyed by Smaug and we need all able-bodied adults to prepare some shelter for the winter.”

“So you think we should hide the ring for now?” Galadriel asked.

“The longer it remains intact, the greater the danger that Sauron or his servants will find it,” Elrond pointed out. “And it’s not just our forces who are weakened right now. Sauron and his army are as well.”

Nori looked at Bilbo and received a resigned nod in reply. “Who says we need to lead an army against Mordor?”

Everyone turned to look at them in surprise.

“We could use the distraction caused by this battle and the fight against the dragon and sneak in to destroy it,” Nori continued when he was sure he had their attention.

“But who would go?”

“I’ll go. I carried it until now, I’ll carry it there, too,” Bilbo said.

“I’m going with you,” Nori said. “I promised to act in your sentinel’s stead and I’ll do so until the two of you can bond.” He’d have to inform Dís. They were almost here and until then, the Company would keep Thorin and the boys safe.

“I’ll go with them,” Legolas offered.

“No!” Thrandúil cut in at once. He wouldn’t let his son go on what he was quite sure was a suicide mission. “No, I won’t allow it.”

Legolas frowned. “Father-”

“Let me go,” Tauriel said, coming inside. She rested a hand on Legolas’ shoulder. “Stay here, help lead the rebuilding. I can go.”

Thranduil considered her, then nodded. “You will go as representative of the Woodland Realm.” It was the closest he would go to take back his words exiling her. If she did manage to survive, she would be an honoured guard of his kingdom again. If she didn’t, well...

“Then I will go as well, so that no one may say that us humans stayed out of it,” a human woman said, stepping forward from where she’d been standing behind Elrond.

“Gilraen,” he protested.

“My Lord Elrond, I’m sure you understand. If there is any chance that I can keep this burden from my son, I will do whatever necessary,” she said gently. “I know that, however it ends, he’s safe in Rivendell. Let me do what I can for his future.”

He closed his eyes, resigned. “Very well.”

~*~

_‘Dis,_

_The Company survived. Thorin overcame the gold sickness._

_Turns out Master Baggins found the One Ring. We are going to Mordor in secret to destroy it, accompanied by an Elf and a Human.’_

~*~

They all stared at Dís, certain that they must have misheard.

“The One Ring-? He’s in _Mordor_?” Dáin asked.

Dís just nodded. “It was found by Master Baggins during the course of the quest. He and Nori volunteered to destroy it.”

The Company gasped at the realization that Bilbo was not in the Elven camp or on his way home, as they had thought, but on the way to further danger.

“They will succeed,” Dís said. She would not entertain the idea that they wouldn’t, that they might not return. “I trust that the Valar knew what they were doing when they had two of the strongest Sentinels in generations awaken around the same time in the Line of Dúrin.” She proudly held Dáin’s gaze.

He was the first to look away. “Very well. I will return to my tent and wait for news.”

“They really are on the way to Mordor?” Dori asked when Dáin and his men had left. His voice shook just slightly at the last word. Ori stood beside him, fingers burrowed in his brothers sleeve.

Dís softened when she turned to look at her friend’s brothers. “I’m afraid so, yes. I received his missive yesterday. I expect that they’ve covered some ground since then. But I intend to get the full story from Tharkûn as soon as I can find him.”

“He didn’t say anything before he left,” Ori said softly. “Neither did Bilbo.”

Dís sighed. “Nori’s not allowed to. The identity of the spymaster is traditionally kept a secret, from everyone but his contact among the royal family. But I decided that these are special circumstances, that you can be trusted with this knowledge.”

“We have to go after them,” Dwalin said. “They’re Company. Family. We can’t let them walk into danger on their own.”

The rest of the Company called out their agreement, preparing the rush out and get ready.

“No,” DÍs said sharply, “you cannot. The plan is for them to get in secretly. A whole company of dwarrow will draw too much attention.”

Dwalin forced himself to stay calm, his fists clenching and unclenching. “You don’t understand. He’s my Sentinel, my One.” He ignored the way his brother and Nori’s brothers reacted. There would be time later to deal with them. Now he needed to go after his Sentinel.

“He’s the _Spymaster_ ,” DÍs countered. “He is not allowed to have a One. Or at least not to acknowledge them. He may have no family, so there is no chance of his loyalties being divided. And even if Thorin were to wake up and abolish that rule, you’re currently his king’s Guide, not an unbonded Guide. He cannot bond with you.” Her strict look softened a bit at the pain and fear in his eyes. “I know it’s hard but you need to accept that he is doing his duty right now.”

Dwalin’s shoulders slumped when he realized that she was right. Considering everything he had just learned, he could not ask Nori to abandon his duty, nor could he do so himself.

They were interrupted when one of the dwarrows assisting Óin in the healing tents burst in. “Master Óin, the King’s awake,” he exclaimed. “He’s asking for Master Baggins.”

The Company exchanged uncomfortable looks. It was a good sign that Thorin had woken up but how would he react to learning where his Guide had gone?

Finally Dwalin sighed. “I’ll go see him.”

“I’m coming along,” Óin said.

The others watched them go, all more or less relieved not to have to be the one to break it to him. Then Balin turned to Dori. “It will be some time yet but do you already have tasks you will have Dwalin fulfil in order to get your approval for him to court your brother?”

Dori considered it, then shook his head. “I will not ask anything, aside from him winning Nori’s freely given consent.”

“You won’t?” Balin asked, surprised. It was not unusual for a dwarrow, especially a noble, to be asked to prove they were serious about the one they were courting.

“He will already have to get an old law abolished, Thorin to apologize to and reconcile with Master Baggins, then successfully court him and only then will he be able to start courting Nori. If I were to demand more, it would look like I disapprove of the relationship,” Dori said dryly.


End file.
